PHILADELPHIAûIt’s not all partisan mudslinging in the presidential race as first lady Laura Bush expressed her support for Michelle Obama, wife of the presumed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama. Michelle Obama has come under fire by Republ
She told the audience there that for the first time in her adult life, she was proud of the United States. Laura Bush said mistakes are common during the pressure of a campaign. “I think she probably meant ‘I’m more proud,’ you know, is what she really meant. You have to be very careful in what you say.
Everything you say is looked at and in many cases, misconstrued,” Bush said in an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America. Michelle Obama later clarified the remark, saying she had always been proud of her country.
No response by her was reported at Tribune press time. Laura Bush also said that she admired the “grit and strength” that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton demonstrated in the hard-fought campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination but said she would want to see a Republican woman as president.
Bush flew to Slovenia after making an unannounced trip to Afghanistanûher third as first ladyùto rally international aid for the war-weary Afghans. President George W. Bush left Washington for Slovenia for his final U.S.-European Union Summit. He traveled to Germany, Italy, France, England and Northern Ireland. In her interview, Bush said she has been paying close attention to the campaign for the November election.
Clinton suspended her bid for the Democratic nomination and robustly threw her support behind Obama over the weekend after a long nominating contest for the party. “Of course I want the woman to be a Republican woman,” Laura Bush said. “But I will say, I have watched the campaign, and I admired Hillary’s grit and strength. I know what it’s like to run those campaigns and so I’ll have to say I have a lot of admiration for her endurance.”
Obama jumps in polls. Sen. Barack Obama has pulled ahead of Sen. John McCain in the polls after Sen. Hillary Clinton ceded the field to her rival, according the Gallup poll daily tracker. The two men had been running in a statistical tie for weeks before Clinton’s exit pushed Obama into a six-point lead over McCain. According to the Gallup, Obama had 48 percent of voters behind him compared to McCain’s 42 percent.
“(This) represent(s) Obama’s strongest showing versus McCain to date in Gallup poll daily tracking of registered voters,’” wrote Jeff Jones in Gallup’s analysis of the data. “For much of the time since Gallup began tracking General Election preferences in mid-March, McCain and Obama have been in a statistical dead heat.”
The poll went on to note that his lead would widen by three points if Clinton were added to the ticket as his vice-presidential candidate. That did not mean all Democrats thought an Obama/Clinton ticket was a good idea. “There is not an overwhelming consensus among Democrats that Obama choose Clinton as his number two,” wrote Jones.
“In the latest Gallup à update 53 percent of Democrats say Obama should pick his former nomination rival for vice president, while 36 percent say he should choose someone else.” Obama and McCain have sharpened their attacks on one another in the few days since Clinton suspended her campaign. As Obama’s campaign announced the launch of a two-week tour of the country with a focus on the economy, Obama said he would tax oil companies on windfall profits and drew a parallel between McCain and President Bush.
“If John McCain’s policies were implemented, they would add $5.7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. That isn’t fiscal conservatism, that’s what George Bush has done over the last eight years,” Obama said. Obama also called for the establishment of a Foreclosure Prevention Fund to help homeowners struggling in the credit crisis. “If the government can bail out investment banks on Wall Street, we can extend a hand to folks who are struggling on Main Street,” Obama said.
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